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Save on Photo Books in a Snap

These days, sharing your photos online is simple and free, but if you prefer to have your pictures printed the old fashioned way, it can be expensive. Here are a few great places to get photo books printed without the high costs.

The first place you should go is CVS. While the chain is known for being a top-notch pharmacy, CVS was actually rated the highest in quality and value in a recent photo book review by Good Housekeeping.

For only $4.99, you can get a 20-page, single-sided album with free shipping or same-day pickup. These are great for last-minute gifts, but if you're looking for something a little fancier, go online.

MixBook, a popular photo printing site, won a recent TopTenReviews Gold award for quality and custom design options. Here, you'll find over 150 stylish template options to choose from. Sure, these books are a little more expensive, but the high-quality design is worth it. For $6.99 and a $5.99 shipping charge, you'll get a 20-page 4"x6" booklet that you can keep forever.

If you prefer to create a photo book from your cell phone pics, try GrooveBook. This app offers a basic book design, but the price can't be beat. For just $2.99, you'll get a 100-page 4.5"x6.5" book, which includes shipping and handling.

This costs about 70 percent less than digital printing at places like Walmart, where the same photos would cost you nearly $10 plus shipping.

So, when it comes to making photo books, keep these options in mind. You'll be able to hold onto your memories and preserve your funds, too.

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Lois Holloway

The best site I feel for photo books is Shutterfly. May be a little pricier but you get what you pay for. They have a wide range of products and pricing, plus an endless selection of ways to customize your books. You can also add stories you type in to your books, quotes, titles, text bubbles over photos, etc. You can't go wrong with their books.

I have used freeshipping.com for a couple of years...just sent in your purchase info,etc,(part of the process,all on their website) and am very happy with them...12.99 a month isn't bad,especially when you have birthdays,Christmas,all the holidays,or just cause,and don't live in state,or close by.Highly recommend them..takes about 6 weeks to receive the check(s) ,but saves a ton $$$$$

I have a better idea. A few years ago I decided I had way too many photos and needed to get them better organized than just keeping them in boxes. I decided to make one for each of my kids, with photos of their childhood, birthday parties etc. So I went to Big Lots and found 3, 2" 3 ring binders. 2 plain for my sons and one with a colored cover for the daughter, all together they didn't cost me but $1.99 ea Then I went to Office Depot and bought a 3 pkgs of 3 holed, clear 8x11 sleeves' I believe there were at least 24 in each pkg and they cost $7 each on sale. Each sleeve held 8 pictures, 4 on each side, back to back. So each photo book cost me approximately $9 and there was plenty of room left over so I added pictures that they made for me over their school years, cards they gave me for Mother's Day and Bdays or awards they got that I hung onto. They were thrilled with them. They now do the same for their own kids, they'll print pics and add them as they take them, put in the cards and awards and pictures they drew, that way there is something they can hold and know it was filled with love.

You get what you pay for. It depends on the level of quality you want. Sure you can get cheap books made up at places like CVS, but your goal is quality, go with a place like Smilebooks. My grandkids are homeschooled and love getting their latest story or poetry memorialized in a "real" book, however they're not always something that anybody would want to keep "forever", so that's when I go somewhere like CVS and get a cheap book made up that satisfies the child's desire to be published. But when I did a book commemorating the trip my father and his parents made across the US in 1926 which included the daily letters he wrote to his sister who stayed home, I used Smilebooks for a high quality, long-lasting souvenir. It was definitely worth the price!